Drone Buddy vs Meshtastic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drone Buddy
This app provides drone pilots with essential flight data, including weather radar, wind maps, and no-fly zone information. It helps users plan safe flights, discover new flying locations, and stay updated on drone news. An optional subscription offers advanced features.
- Weather radar and wind maps
- No-fly zone data
- Best flying window forecasts
- Crowd-sourced flying spot discovery
- Drone news updates
- Drone flying hub for jobs and business
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Don’t waste a trip. Check wind, weather, and airspace before you take off — then find nearby flying sites shared by other pilots. Trusted by over 1 million pilots. 4.7 stars from 8.4K App Store ratings. WHAT YOU GET • Go / no-go — a clear fly check for your pin from weather, TFRs, and U.S. Class B/C/D/E • Wind and weather — live wind, gusts, rain radar, and visibility so you know if it’s actually flyable • Best flying windows — the calmest daylight slots, scored for wind, rain, cloud, visibility, and daylight • No-fly reference maps — global airports, U.S. Class B/C/D/E, US / UK / Canada national parks, TFRs, stadium events, and FAA UAS restricted areas. Adjust airport circle range for your certification. These are planning tools, not official clearance, and not a LAANC filing. • Where to fly — crowd-sourced sites with photos and notes from other pilots • Flying Hub — save favorite spots; businesses can post jobs, inspections, surveys, and training • Drone news — regulations, gear, and industry updates DRONE BUDDY PRO Check any pin first: go / no-go on a searched site, hourly wind, calm flying windows for 10 days, and TFR alerts on the pin you care about. 3-day free trial on the annual plan, then the yearly price shown in-app. Cancel anytime in Apple ID settings. Also available as a 3-month plan or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions auto-renew unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the period ends. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Manage or cancel in Account Settings. Please cross-check local laws and airspace before every flight. Drone Buddy is not affiliated with the FAA and does not replace B4UFLY or an FAA-listed LAANC app. Maps and community sites can be incomplete — you are responsible for a legal, safe flight. Privacy: https://dronebuddy.io/privacy Terms: https://dronebuddy.io/terms Support: sayhi@dronebuddy.io Web: https://dronebuddy.io
Meshtastic
This app enables off-grid, decentralized communication via a low-power mesh network. Send text messages in areas lacking cellular or WiFi service.
- Off-grid communication
- Decentralized mesh network
- Low-power LoRa radio support
- Text messaging
- No cellular/WiFi required
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Meshtastic® is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on low-power Lora radios letting you send text messages in areas without reliable cellular or WiFi service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Drone Buddy at 4.7 against Meshtastic's 4.1. Drone Buddy also leads on ratings volume (8.4K vs 835) and review sentiment (55% vs 44%). Meshtastic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and device support (5 vs 3). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Drone Buddy sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Meshtastic asks for nothing beyond the download.
Drone Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Buddy has 8.4K ratings behind it against 835, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Drone Buddy's written reviews are positive against 44% of Meshtastic's.
Drone Buddy ships an update every 10 days, Meshtastic every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drone Buddy | Meshtastic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (8.4K ratings) — better | 4.1 (835 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.8% of reviews — better | 44.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8.4K — better | 835 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15 — better | 17.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 144 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Kirway LLC | Meshtastic LLC |
Customer experience
Drone Buddy
Meshtastic
User reviews
Drone Buddy
From 8.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Unique and outstanding design
- 👍 Correct and reliable data
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 👍 Helpful for drone flying
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Missing vital data and information
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🌍 Not accurate for non-US regions
Meshtastic
From 835 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Well-made app
- 🚀 Polished and intuitive interface
- 🚀 Powerful features for off-grid communication
- 👍 Great community and responsive developers
- 👍 Continuously improving with updates
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bluetooth connectivity issues
- 🐛 Unreliable messaging and node connections
- 🐛 Crashes and stability problems
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 👎 Lacking feature parity with Android version
Bugs and requests
Drone Buddy
Reported bugs
3 issues- Map crashes after populating airports
- Profile settings not saving
- Inconsistent wind speed data
Requested features
4 requests- Color-coded wind speed indicators
- Ability to report and verify no-fly zones
- Integration with air traffic control
- Metric units support
Meshtastic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Canned messages configuration issues
- Location sharing and traceroute functions not working
- Settings screen bugs and crashes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline maps support
- Ability to customize notifications
- More sorting and filtering options for nodes
- Apple Watch and Shortcuts integration
- Improved documentation and user guidance
In-app purchases
Drone Buddy
- Upgrade to Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
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- Drone Buddy Pro 3 months$12.993 Months
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro$17.996 Months
- Drone Buddy Pro Access Yearly$19.991 Year
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly3 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Unlock Pro Access Lifetime$79.99
- Unlock Pro Lifetime$99.99
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Drone Buddy free?
Is Meshtastic free?
Which has better reviews, Drone Buddy or Meshtastic?
Do Drone Buddy or Meshtastic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drone Buddy or Meshtastic?
Other comparisons
